Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, plans to commercialize its proprietary generative artificial intelligence (AI) by December, following Google’s footsteps in finding practical applications for the tech. The company has been investing in artificial intelligence for over a decade and has one of the leading research institutes in the world, with a large research organization of hundreds of people. Meta announced in February that it would establish a new organization to develop generative artificial intelligence, but this is the first time it has indicated a timeline for commercialization.
Cutting-Edge Technology for Advertisements and Metaverse
Meta’s generative AI technology can instantly create sentences and graphics, which can improve an ad’s effectiveness partly by telling the advertiser what tools to use in making it. According to Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer, instead of a company using a single image in an advertising campaign, it can “ask the AI, ‘Make images for my company that works for different audiences.’ And it can save a lot of time and money.” Advertising is a significant source of revenue for Meta, and the company hopes to eventually apply the technology to all its products and services, including Facebook and Instagram.
The technology will also be used in the metaverse, a highly realistic virtual space Meta is eagerly developing. Bosworth said that previously if someone wanted to create a 3D world, they would need to learn a lot of computer graphics and programming. However, with generative artificial intelligence, “you might be able to just describe the world you want to create and have the large language model generate that world for you. And so it makes things like content creation much more accessible to more people.”
Conflicting Views on the Responsible Development of Generative AI
While expectations are high for generative artificial intelligence to handle multitudes of tasks with great efficiency, concerns persist, particularly about humanity’s control of civilization. In March, the U.S.-based nonprofit Future of Life Institute launched a petition asking that the development of the technology be paused for at least six months, gaining the support of American entrepreneur Elon Musk and others. However, Bosworth believes that it’s very important to invest in the responsible development and does that kind of investment all the time. He said, “Very often, you have to understand how technology evolves before you can know how to protect and make it safe. And so I think, not only is it unrealistic, I don’t think it would be effective.”
Meta and Google at the Forefront of AI Research
Meta and Google stand out in the number of studies published in AI research. Meta established a research lab for artificial intelligence in 2013 by inviting Yann LeCun, a French scientist and leading expert on the technology, to join the effort. According to AI research analysis platform Zeta Alpha, based in the Netherlands, Meta was second only to Google in the number of citations in major studies published on artificial intelligence in 2022.
Bosworth believes that Meta remains on the cutting edge of generative artificial intelligence technology and expects to start seeing some of them commercialized this year. The company just created a new team, the generative AI team, a couple of months ago, and they are very busy. It’s probably the area that Bosworth and Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Product Officer Chris Cox are spending the most time in.
Conclusion
Meta is preparing to commercialize its proprietary generative artificial intelligence by December, which can instantly create sentences and graphics. The technology will be used in advertising and the metaverse. Meta hopes to apply the technology to all its products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, and the company plans to stay at the forefront of generative AI technology.
